Here on Oahu, a horse rescue shelter is marking its fifth year in operation and is now looking to expand to Colorado.

"I do have my own personal horses but I've got a lot of love to give these guys," said Betina Parker.

Parker has roots planted in both Hawaii and Colorado.

The founder of Equine 808 has responded to close to a hundred calls for help in the short time the horse rescue program has been in place.

"They see an emaciated horse or they see an owner abusing a horse or even help for themselves I have a horse. I don't know what to do with it," Parker said.

The Kunia ranch recently teamed up with the Humane Society of the United States

to host a workshop with law enforcement officers.

"We go over what to do in the field when you responding to a possible case of cruelty or neglect, when to involve a vetinarian, the proper documentation, and protocols that should be followed," said Inga Gibson who heads the HSUS Hawaii Chapter.

"We are getting a lot more calls, and more of an influx of horses too, at one point we were getting one horse a mont,” Parker said.

Parker said shelter staff compiled a book with before and after pictures of some of their success stories.

Recovery can take years, but Parker is happy Equine 808 has been able to successfully arrange more than two dozen horse adoptions.

Parker pointed to one horse in particular as she flipped through the pages of the book.

"He is a really patient horse we were able to give riding lessons with him

and he is sponsered by a military familiy who really loves that horse. And these are our donkeys," Parker said.

The feral donkey program is part of a major effort to find homes for hundreds of sterilized Kona nightingales rescued from the Big Island. Sixteen of the donkeys have been sent over to Oahu and have been adopted.

Another five arrive this week. They have been snatched up by ranchers to help with goat herds or to help keep horses company. One pony in particular happens to get along really well with two donkeys.

"We have two up here in Kunia. There are a lot of them in the Waimanalo and Hauula. They are getting around,” Parker said.

While the donkey program is ongoing, the shelter’s primary mission is still to rehabilitate rescued horses. It’s most recent rescue was just last week.

Here on Oahu, a horse rescue shelter is marking its fifth year in operation and is now looking to expand to Colorado. KITV4's Catherine Cruz takes us to Kunia for a closer look at the work that's underway. - NAT 44: 53 - 44:57 "I do have my own personal horses but I've got a lot of love to give these guys" - Betina Parker has roots planted in both Hawaii and Colorado. The founder of Equine 808 has responded to close to a hundred calls for help in the short time the horse rescue program has been in place. - 37: 43- 37: 52 - "They see an emaciated horse or they see an owner abuseing a horse or even help for themsleves I have a horse. I don't know what to do with it," The Kunia Ranch recently teamed up with the Humane Society of the United States to host a workshop with law enforcement officers - INGA 28:52- 29 :03 -"We go over what to do in the field when you responding to a possible case of cruelty or neglect, when to involve a veterianian, the proper documentaton protocals that should be followed." - Betina 37:59- 38:07 - "We are gettting a lot more calls, and more of an influx of horses too, at one point we were getting one horse a month either being surrendered or not really seized but owners surrender because of a possible prosecution of neglect" Parker says shelter staff complied a book with before and after pictures of some of their success stories. Recovery can take years. But Parker is happy Equine 808 has been able to successfully arrange more than two dozen adoptions. - 41: 19 35 "He is a really patient horse we were able to give riding lessons and he is sponsered by a military familiy who really loves that horse.. and these are our donkeys" The feral donkey program is part of a major effort to find homes for hundreds of sterilized Kona nightingales rescued from the Big Island. Sixteen of the donkeys have been sent over to Oahu and are available for adoption here another five arrive this week. They have been snatched up by ranchers to to help with goat herds or to help keep horses company. This particular pony happens to get along really well with these donkeys. - 33:36 - 33 45 - "We have two up here in Kunia Alot of them in the Waimanalo and Hauula. So they are getting around? Yeah, they are getting around" Some of the donkeys have ended up in Colorado and California. The adoptions are ongoing but Equine's sanctuary mission and education work is still it's primary focus. In fact it's most recent rescue of a horse, was just a week ago. Back to you.